By Living Room Realty, April 26, 2021
What a way to start the weekend! Congratulations to Hannah on purchasing her first home in SE Portland! If you know me, you know I go kookoo for independent women purchasing their own homes. It was a major turning point in my own life, and I couldn’t be happier to welcome Hannah to the club!
I met Hannah through her mom, Beth – we used to teach together at Marysville. Beth clearly knew what she was doing, because we were instant friends. Hannah’s home search looked similar to that of nearly every other first-time home buyer in Portland: under $400K, not falling apart, and at least a little cute or charming.
We found a lot of houses that fit the bill…as did everyone else. Wary of buyer burnout (it’s real), Hannah and I quickly formed a strategic and communicative partnership. She often did drive-bys of the house prior to scheduling a showing, which ruled out about half of the homes we could have seen. She also capitalized on open houses, and even sent her mom to scope a few. She looked at homes listed well under the top of her budget. I taught her to take off her “staging goggles” to consider plainer, unstated homes for their *potential* cuteness.
If a house seemed like a real candidate, I would keep in close communication with the listing agent. Often, once we had a good idea of the offer landscape (oh, there are 14 offers already?), Hannah was confidently able to “sit this one out.” And most importantly, we kept going back to her non-negotiables. Space for a [small] dining table. A decent, fenced yard for Jojo, her newly adopted pup. Natural light. Storage (garage or basement). Not teensy, but also not more space than she needed. And of course, good vibes.
Overall, Hannah submitted 4 offers, and even had one accepted, before going pending on a house just 9 blocks from her sister in Foster Powell. She included some amazing terms and a heartfelt letter, which helped her secure the house over 2 higher-priced offers. Inspections and appraisal were both relatively stress-free processes, and lender/title made the closing process a breeze. SE Portland was in full bloom for key day, making for a very happy Hannah.
Selfishly, I’m happy she held out for this cutie. We are both a little sad that the process is over, but have to remind ourselves we can hang out as just FRIENDS now. It’s about a 7 minute walk for either of us to meet for drinks and burgers at Thunderbird or Slingshot. So cheers to home ownership, independent women, and happy hours all summer long!
